


A Lesson in Romantics

by reindeersidecar



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, Ruby Slippers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-20
Updated: 2016-04-20
Packaged: 2018-06-03 08:35:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6604138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reindeersidecar/pseuds/reindeersidecar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She wasn't ever supposed to see the flower. 5x18 Rewrite</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Lesson in Romantics

               Mulan spun the poppy flower between her fingers.

               The flames snapped in the evening wind as she huddled near them for warmth. Dorothy had retired to her cabin. Ruby lay sleeping beneath the large pine tree on the opposite side of the campfire. Mulan was first watch.

               She didn’t know what had transpired between the werewolf and the witch hunter in those moments away from camp. All she knew was that the mood had shifted dramatically when they’d returned. Ruby didn’t so much as look at Mulan before crawling under her red cloak to sleep for the night.

               The only evidence Mulan had about what had happened was this poppy flower. They’d needed one of course for the potion—but Ruby had kept another tucked into her belt. It seemed precious to her. Mulan shouldn’t have it. But she’d been curious when she’d seen the lively red petals poking out from the pile of travelling clothes Ruby had abandoned in favor of a shift.

               She held the flower now between her thumb and forefinger, wondering what it would look like tucked behind Ruby’s ear, starkly red against her black hair, against the blues of her eyes.

               Mulan wondered if Dorothy had imagined the same thing when she’d given the flower to Ruby.

               She pinched the stem between her trembling fingers. She felt tight in her chest. She swallowed against the sharp tickle in the back of her throat.

               She couldn’t believe she’d made the same mistake twice.

               “Mulan?” Ruby mumbled, her voice soft with sleep.

               Mulan scrambled to hide the flower behind her.

               Ruby lifted her head, her hair falling messily across her face. She had a sweet, languid smile and one brow cocked.  “What do you got there?”

               Mulan wanted to hurl the flower into the fire, forget she’d ever seen it, burn everything it meant, everything it promised.

               Instead she very sheepishly presented the flower to Ruby.

                Ruby’s smile dropped in an instant. “I meant to talk to you about that.”

                Mulan frowned. “You don’t owe me an explanation.”

               Her whole body seemed to relax. “Okay.”

               Ruby looked relieved to be let off the hook. Mulan felt just as relieved to have avoided the whole confrontation. It was the same kind of relief she'd felt when Aurora had told her she'd been expecting a child. Relief that didn't bring her any measure of satisfaction. Relief that made her a coward.

                Mulan glanced up and found Ruby watching her from across the flames. Her face betrayed no particular emotion as the firelight danced in her eyes. Her pink lips parted as if to utter something, but she said nothing.

                Perhaps the confrontation shouldn’t be avoided.

               “Ruby,” Mulan began, her voice shaking. “Would it change anything if…” She swallowed.

               Ruby sat up a bit, her red cloak sliding off her shoulders. “If what?”

               “If you knew,” Mulan said, swallowing again. Her lips trembled around her words. “That this flower made me jealous.”

                Ruby blinked a bit, sinking back onto her legs. Mulan quickly averted her eyes and sat with baited breath. She wanted to leave. Be somewhere—anywhere else. She wanted those silver slippers so she could click her heels and disappear.

                “It wouldn’t,” Ruby answered finally.

                Mulan felt her heart drop. She refused to meet Ruby’s stare, afraid her face looked as warm as it felt.  It was as she’d feared. She was too late. And now she was just humiliating herself.

                Mulan set the flower down beside her. “Well, it doesn’t.”

                Ruby laughed and joined her on the other side of the camp. She picked up the poppy flower. “It doesn’t make you jealous?”

                Mulan’s face burned hotter by the second. She didn’t need to be further ridiculed. She was plenty good at doing that herself. She turned to Ruby, angry and horribly embarrassed, intending to tell her just that. But when she met her eyes, there was a gleam of mischief she hadn’t expected. A roguish smile spread across the werewolf’s lips. Mulan forgot her anger in that moment.

                Her throat felt dry. “No,” she rasped.

                Ruby’s smile grew. “Good.” Then she leaned in, and Mulan heard her own breath hitch in her throat. She felt Ruby exhale soft and warm against her mouth as she tucked the poppy flower behind Mulan’s ear.

               “It shouldn’t,” Ruby murmured. She tilted her head, her face still near, her fingers lingering in Mulan’s hair. Her eyes were dark as they trailed down her face to her lips. Mulan found her own eyes wandering.

               “I’m not the best person to ask for relationship advice,” Ruby whispered, her eyes never leaving her lips, “but I think you should kiss me.”

               Mulan laughed. She leaned in and their lips met, timid and unsure. She felt Ruby smile against her mouth. It was no True Love’s Kiss, but it was the start of something.


End file.
